General info about Dutch Settlers

General info about Dutch Settlers

I have many Dutch descendancies and tie-ins. I have learned some backround info that might be useful.

Starting with the exploration of Henry Hudson, the Dutch settled on the Hudson River from Albany, Fort Orange, to New Amsterdam. The fur trade of beaver and otter was important cash crop. Many locations still bear the Dutch names. Harlem, Manhattan, Tappan Zee, Brooklyn (Breuckelen), Yonkers and the Bronx.

There was little reason for Dutch to settle in the new world. During the 1600s the Dutch economy was booming and there was religious tolerance in Holland. There was not a real reason for families to risk their lives to go to the new world. Most of those who went as Dutch were actually transplants that had left their motherland to escape religious persecution. They did not want to be trapped if Holland became intolerant. They could settle in Dutch settlements that had a high concentration of their own countryman. Many of the small number of actual Dutch may have been bachelors who were here for the fur trade. Some of these took Native Americans for their wives. Walloons were one of these groups of people and contributed heavily to the Dutch settlements. It is believed the term “Yankee” is of Dutch origin for little cheese. It was used as an insulting nickname for the Dutch settlers. The Dutch families that married into the Mesnard families migrated from the Upper NY area to NYC in the early 1700s. This may have been a result of dwindling fur profits and new trade possibilities in NYC. These like the NYC Mesnards were linked to the sea. I wonder if the marriages were attempts to improve business. Services were advertised by word of mouth alone. I can say all the Dutch NYC marriages that I have learned the family business the business was either trade or having something to do with the sea.

Re: General info about Dutch Settlers

I recently came across a book, The island at the Center of the World," by Russell Shorto, (Doubleday 2004), based on records of the Dutch settlement of Manhattan Island which one person in Albany NY has been translating since their discovery in the 1960's, and which is a very interesting narrative, beginning with Henry Hudson and ending with the English takeover. Anyone interested in Dutch colonial history will find this fascinating.